A. Field of the Invention The present invention is related to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to a system and method for enhancing the telephone service for providing local information during telephone connections in a data network telephone system. In circumstances, such as emergency situations, it may be important for one party to the telephone connection to have information regarding the geographical location of the caller without expecting to obtain the information from the caller.
B. Description of the Related Art and Advantages of the Present Invention
For many years, telephone service providers on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) provided their customers nothing more than a telephone line to use to communicate with other subscribers. Over time, telephone service providers have enhanced their service by providing Custom Local Area Signaling Service (CLASS) features to their customers. Similar communication services are provided by a Private Branch Exchange (PBX), which is typically implemented in a nonresidential setting.
The CLASS features permit customer subscribers of the features to tailor their telephone service according to individual needs. Some of the well-known CLASS features are:
Call blocking: The customer may specify one or more numbers from which he or she does not want to receive calls. A blocked caller will hear a rejection message, while the callee will not receive any indication of the call.
Call return: Returns a call to the most recent caller. If the most recent caller is busy, the returned call may be queued until it can be completed.
Call trace: Allows a customer to trigger a trace of the number of the most recent caller.
Caller ID: The caller""s number is automatically displayed during the silence period after the first ring. This feature requires the customer""s line to be equipped with a device to read and display the out-of-band signal containing the number.
Caller ID blocking: Allows a caller to block the display of their number in a callee""s caller ID device.
Priority ringing: Allows a customer to specify a list of numbers for which, when the customer is called by one of the numbers, the customer will hear a distinctive ring.
Call forwarding: A customer may cause incoming calls to be automatically forwarded to another number for a period of time.
A customer subscriber to a CLASS feature may typically activate and/or de-activate a CLASS feature usingxe2x80x9c*xe2x80x9d directives (e.g.,*69 to automatically return a call to the most recent caller). CLASS features may also be implemented with the use of out-of-band data. CLASS feature data is typically transmitted between local Class-5 switches using the Signaling System 7 (SS7).
Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) and other similar organizations maintain CLASS offices that typically contain a database entry for each customer. The database allows specification of the CLASS features a customer has subscribed to, as well as information, such as lists of phone numbers, associated with those features. In some cases, customers may edit these lists on-line via a touch-tone interface. A list of all phone numbers that have originated or terminated a call with each customer is often included in the CLASS office database. For each customer, usually only the most recent number on this list is stored by the local Class-5 switch.
A Private Branch Exchange (PBX), is a stored program switch similar to a Class-5 switch. It is usually used within a medium-to-large-sized business for employee telephony service. Since a PBX is typically operated by a single private organization, there exists a wide variety of PBX services and features. Custom configurations are common, such as integration with intercom and voice mail systems. PBX""s typically support their own versions of the CLASS features, as well as other features in addition to those of CLASS. Most PBX features are designed to facilitate business and group communications.
A summary of typical PBX features includes:
Call transfer: An established call may be transferred from one number to another number on the same PBX.
Call forwarding: In addition to CLASS call forwarding, a PBX number can be programmed to automatically transfer a call to another number when the first number does not answer or is busy.
Camp-on queuing: Similar to PSTN call return, a call to a busy number can be queued until the callee can accept it. The caller can hang up their phone and the PBX will ring them when the callee answers.
Conference calling: Two or more parties can be connected to one another by dialing into a conference bridge number.
Call parking: An established call at one number can be put on hold and then reestablished from another number. This is useful when call transfer is not warranted.
Executive override: A privileged individual can break into an established call. After a warning tone to the two participants, the call becomes a three-way call.
While the CLASS and PBX features have enhanced the offerings of service providers that use the PSTN, the features are nevertheless limited in their flexibility and scope. The effect to the user is that the features become clumsy and difficult to use. For example, in order to use the Call Forwarding function, the user must perform the steps at the user""s own phone prior to moving to the location of the telephone to which calls will be forwarded. A more desirable approach, from the standpoint of usefulness to the user, would be to perform the steps at the telephone to which calls will be forwarded.
Much of the lack of flexibility of the PSTN features is due to the lack of flexibility in the PSTN system itself. One problem with the PSTN is that the terminal devices (e.g. telephones) lack intelligence and operate asxe2x80x9cdumbxe2x80x9d terminals on a network having the intelligence in central offices. Most PSTN telephones are limited in functional capability to converting the analog signals they receive to sound and converting the sound from the handset to analog signals.
Some PSTN telephones have a display device and a display function to display specific information communicated from intelligent agents in the PSTN network using the PSTN signaling architecture. For example, some PSTN telephones have a display function to enable the Caller ID feature. Even such PSTN telephones are limited however by the closed PSTN signaling architecture, which prohibits access by the PSTN telephones to the network signaling protocols. The display functions are effectively limited to displaying text, again, as axe2x80x9cdumbxe2x80x9d terminal.
The Internet presents a possible solution for distributing intelligence to telephony terminal devices. In Internet telephony, digitized voice is treated as data and transmitted across a digital data network between a telephone calls"" participants. One form of Internet telephony uses a telephony gateway/terminal where fP telephony calls are terminated on the network. PSTN telephones are connected by a subscriber line to the gateway/terminal at the local exchange, or at the nearest central office. This form of Internet telephony provides substantial cost savings for users. Because the PSTN portion used in Internet telephony calls is limited to the local lines on each end of the call, long distance calls may be made for essentially the cost of a local call. Notwithstanding the costs savings provided by this form of Internet telephony, it is no more flexible than the PSTN with respect to providing enhancements and features to the basic telephone service.
In another form of Internet telephony, telephones are connected to access networks that access the Internet using a router. The telephones in this form of Internet telephony may be substantially more intelligent than typical PSTN telephones. For example, such a telephone may include substantially the computer resources of a typical personal computer.
Such telephones or, data network telephones use packet-switched data connections as opposed to the circuit-switched connections used in the traditional PSTN. One problem with a data network telephone system is that data routers establish the data network telephone connections without any knowledge of the locations of the telephones. PSTN switches, on the other hand, make PSTN connections between telephones in specific locations. PSTN telephones have numbers that the PSTN system can correspond to a location.
The PSTN system can make advantageous use of the location information corresponding to the PSTN telephone numbers in special circumstances. For example, the xe2x80x98911xe2x80x99 emergency system uses location information corresponding to the telephone numbers that make calls to xe2x80x98911xe2x80x99 control centers. Emergency help may be sent to a location learned from merely receiving the call, which is helpful in situations where the caller may not be physically able to communicate the location.
It would be desirable, in a data network telephone system, for a telephone to be able to communicate location information during the call setup to the callee""s telephone.
The present invention addresses the above needs by providing a system in a data network telephony system, such as for example, the Internet, that provides a way for location information to be communicated to the destination telephone. The embodiments of the present invention may be used, for example, to implement an emergency telephone number and dispatch system in a data network telephone environment.
In view of the above, one aspect of the present invention is directed to a system having at least one data network telephone connected to a data network operable to communicate on a plurality of data communications channels. The data network telephone communicates voice signals as data packets on a voice over data channel with a voice communication device. The data network telephone includes a memory having a telephone location identifier to identify the location of the data network telephone and a location information transmitter to send the telephone location identifier to the voice communication device. A service provider server is connected to the data network to establish a user interactive connection to obtain a telephone location from the user, and to configure the data network telephone with a configuration including the telephone location to store in the memory as the telephone location identifier.
In another aspect of the present invention, a voice communication device is provided having a network interface to connect to a data network to communicate on a plurality of data communications channels. The voice communication device communicates voice signals as data packets on a voice over data channel with a second voice communication device. A memory having a telephone location identifier is included to identify the location of the voice communication device and a location information transmitter operable sends the telephone location identifier to the second voice communication device. A registration function communicates with a service provider server connected to the data network to configure the voice communication device to obtain a telephone location and to configure the voice communication device with a configuration including the telephone location to store in the memory as the telephone location identifier.
In another aspect of the present invention, a service provider server is provided having a network interface for communicating over at least one data communications channel. An accounts database accesses a user account having a user telephone service account for using a data network telephone. A provisioning function provides a feature request form to a user on one of the data communications channels. The feature request form receives user input to select at least one feature enhancement and a telephone location. A service configuration function is included to send a message to the data network telephone to activate the service enhancements and to store the telephone location.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for transmitting location information of a data network telephone during a telephone connection. In accordance with the method, a voice over data communication channel connected to a second voice communication device is detected and a telephone location identifier is retrieved from a memory element in the data network telephone. The telephone location identifier is added to a data packet. The data packet is communicated to the second voice communication device.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for configuring a data network telephone for service. A request to configure the data network telephone is received from the user. A user feature request form prompts the user to select features and to enter an identifier identifying a physical location of the data network telephone. A user account is setup in accordance with the selected features. A configuration message is sent to the data network telephone. The configuration message includes a telephone location identifier to store in the data network telephone.